Nightmares
by Outcast of Reality
Summary: InuyashaKagome Inuyasha has a bad dream, and wakes up to the only thing that really comforts him ONE-SHOT


Nightmares   
  
Little Inuyasha ran along, breathing heavily, his small feet tapping incessantly across the empty, glassy blackness. His surroundings were literally inexistent, as they accompanied the inky blackness that was everything at the moment. His eyes couldn't make out anything at the moment, but he ran on, blinking back tears.  
  
"Mama!!" He wanted his mother. It seemed she was nowhere to be found in this odd empty space.  
  
"Mama?!" He called again, crying this time. "Where did you go?" he sobbed, finally submitting to the tears that had been threatening to come out for a long while. He ran, literally, headfirst into a hug. He knew who it was.  
  
Inuyasha buried his face in the fabric covering his mothers shoulder, his tiny hands gripping fistfuls of her kimono.  
  
"Mama, they all hate me!!" he choked out, nuzzling further into the flowery fabric.  
  
"Shhh…" she murmured, spending a few moments calming, running graceful fingers through his long, silver hair. "Nobody hates you." she told him.  
  
"They do!!"  
  
He saw tears roll from his mother's eyes. It seemed as if she were being surreally pulled away from him.  
  
"Come back!" he called, to no avail.  
  
"Be strong, Inuyasha." And that was the last.  
  
Inuyasha flew to the less-than-ground, sobbing, pounding his tiny fists, in near hysterics. "No, don't!!" he hollered, beginning to gradually slow down. "I don't want you… to… go…" He fell back to crying.  
  
Suddenly, he became aware of the same caress across his face and hair, with the same gentleness of his mother, but it wasn't his mother.  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
"Inuyasha, your mother is gone. You know that…" The tiny boy did as best he could to hold in his tears. "You're sad, I know. You can cry, I'll stay here with you."  
  
He choked back another sob, all the while comforting hands held him, just letting him cry. For that he was grateful. Tears streamed from his eyes, but he still held back, not wanting to upset her. It seemed like an eternity his eyes were hidden in his hands, which were spilling at the sides with salty tears for his lost mother.  
  
Finally the scent of where he was made itself clear over the smell of his own never-leaving pain. He stared at his hands, which were no longer the stubby, short-fingered hands of a small hanyou, but strong, clawed and older-looking with longer, graceful fingers.  
  
"Where…?"  
  
He looked up, seeing the same face, with the same strong concern. He could do nothing but stare for a moment, until.  
  
"Kagome…"  
  
As it all came flooding back, he bit his tongue, stopping the tears that threatened his composure for a second time. He heard a soft voice.  
  
"It's okay…"  
  
That broke it. He couldn't keep it in. He buried his face in her shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. It felt like he was crying an endless river, and the sorrow would never leave. He knew he was weak. Kikyou had once told him that he shouldn't cry; it was weak. He couldn't stop, though. There was no point. He'd wanted to be strong, for his mother. So that he could protect her. In the end, he couldn't. He lost the only one who loved him, the only person he could love, to her own mortality.  
  
"Shhh… It'll be alright, I promise…"  
  
Kagome held him, stroking his back and hair, whispering soothing words.  
  
"It was a dream, Inuyasha; you'll feel better when you stop crying."  
  
Somewhere between the warmth of her shoulder and the softness of her words, his sobs subsided to wet sniffles.  
  
He was surprised as she smiled warmly at him.  
  
"You okay now?"  
  
He nodded blankly, still confused. He had endless questions running through his mind, and he decided to state the first one that came to mind.  
  
"Why are you being so nice? I don't deserve it."  
  
She moved so his head rested on her lap, and smiled secretly as his eyes closed and he moved towards sleep.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I'm supposed to be strong." He mumbled "Crying is weak. Kikyou said crying is weak."  
  
He felt a hand run through his hair, before stopping to pet one of his ears. "Well, don't believe her. Even the strongest people have hearts. Anybody with a heart can cry."  
  
She frowned as he lifted himself from her lap; she enjoyed taking care of him.  
  
"But why don't you just go back to sleep?"  
  
She sighed. "I'm not going to leave you alone when you're feeling bad. You need to realize that we're all here for you, and that you can come to me for anything."  
  
He frowned "NOBODY would listen to all of my problems."  
  
"I would." She persisted. When he remained silent, she pulled him close so his head rested on her shoulder once again.  
  
"I'll always be here for you. Remember that."  
  
Quietly, as if not wanting to be noticed, he slid his arms around her, returning the hug.  
  
"Thanks, I guess…"  
  
Still caught in a loose hug, she looked up at him.  
  
"We'd better get some sleep, Inuyasha."  
  
"Yeah…"  
  
"But we can't really sleep right here." He picked her up gently, with as much care as she'd already shown for him.  
  
Plopping them both down next to a large tree, he pulled her form into another snuggle. "And I don't think you're leaving just yet."  
  
She laughed lightly, before burying her face in his chest.  
  
"G'night."  
  
"Best one yet."  
  
She laughed again, but it disappeared into a yawn as her eyelids slid shut.  
  
"Thank you, Kagome." He told her, right before noticing that she was sound asleep against him, smiling. He silently watched for a moment, she looked so cute that way. She looked as if nothing bothered her, even though he knew it was the opposite. He supposed the two of them together like that might even make it seem as if they got along, though both of them knew that wasn't true.  
  
He knew that tomorrow, it would all be the same. He knew that tomorrow, she surely wouldn't so willingly rest in his arms. He knew that would never happen.  
  
But just for tonight…  


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So, tell me what you think, ne? Like it? Review please! 


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